How to auto-rig and animate a 3D character with AI
To auto-rig and animate a 3D character with AI, give the rigger a model, let it place a skeleton with the bone names your engine expects, then put a motion on that skeleton from a preset library or a text prompt and export the result. In Ludo.ai's 3D Asset Generator that is the Rig & Animate tab: pick a model you generated or upload your own (GLB, FBX, OBJ and eight other formats), choose a rig type (General for any shape, Humanoid, or Humanoid with fingers) and a naming convention (SMPL, Mixamo, HumanIK, Unreal, Godot, Rigify or VRoid), and the rig is done in about a minute for 1 credit. Then retarget one of 640+ preset motions onto a Humanoid rig or describe the motion in a prompt, save the takes you keep, and download one GLB with the mesh, textures, skeleton and every saved clip inside.
Last updated September 2026
What you need
- A 3D model: one generated in Ludo, or your own file uploaded as GLB, GLTF, OBJ, PLY, STL, OFF, FBX, 3DS, DAE, CTM or X3D
- For the preset library, a two-armed, two-legged character rigged with the Humanoid or Humanoid with fingers rig type
- Credits: 1 for the rig, 0.2 per animation
1Pick the model to rig
Open the 3D Asset Generator and go to the Rig & Animate tab, or click Rig on any generated model card. The picker lists the 3D assets in your favorites that have a mesh; Upload 3D Model takes your own file in GLB, GLTF, OBJ, PLY, STL, OFF, FBX, 3DS, DAE, CTM or X3D. No T-pose is required, and the model does not have to be humanoid.
2Choose the rig type
General is the default: it rigs any type of asset and lets the model choose a skeleton that suits the shape. Humanoid pins a complete humanoid skeleton with named joints and no finger bones; Humanoid with fingers adds the finger joints. Only the two Humanoid types unlock the preset library, so choose one of them for any two-armed, two-legged character you plan to animate from presets. Over the API and MCP server the same choices are
general,humanoid,game,humanoid_template(22 joints) andhumanoid_template_hands(52 joints, five fingers per hand).3Name the bones for your engine
Set the bone naming convention before you rig: SMPL (default), Mixamo (Unity auto-mapper), HumanIK (Maya / FBX), Unreal (UE mannequin), Godot (humanoid profile), Rigify (Blender) or VRoid / VRM. It is purely a relabel. The skeleton is identical whichever you pick; what changes is whether your engine's humanoid mapper recognises the bones on its own or you map them by hand. Choose for the pipeline you are shipping in, because changing it later means rigging again.
4Run the rig
Start the rig and give it about a minute. It costs 1 credit, held when the job is accepted and refunded if it fails or you cancel. The geometry is untouched, but the rig replaces any skeleton the file already had: a model that arrived rigged comes back with the new skeleton and the new names. When it finishes, turn on the skeleton overlay in the viewer and drag a few joints. If an elbow bends where an elbow should, the rig found what you expected; if it does not, fix that now, before spending credits on animation.
5Animate from a preset
Open Rig & Animate on the rigged model and stay on the From Preset tab. Browse the 640+ motions, pick one, and Ludo retargets it onto your character's skeleton, which is why a Humanoid rig type is required here. Each retarget costs 0.2 credits and returns one clip. The motion itself is fixed; only its fit to your character changes, so a preset is the predictable route when you know the move you want. Crop loop and In place default to Auto (recommended): cyclic motions such as a walk or an idle are trimmed to the part that loops, one-shots such as a jump keep their full arc, and travel is removed from looping clips so the character moves on the spot, which is the treadmill clip an engine expects when it drives locomotion itself. Either can be forced to Yes or No.
6Or animate from a prompt
Switch to the From Prompt tab and describe one short motion, under a second long, such as "waving hello" or "idling". Ludo generates 4 candidate takes per run for 0.2 credits at the current introductory price. Choose Full motion (rotation + translation) to keep the character's travel in the clip, or Rotation only when the engine will move the character itself and you only want the limbs to animate. The tab is marked experimental in the app, and that is fair: quality varies from model to model, so plan on a few runs before a take is right.
7Preview and save the takes you keep
Every candidate plays on your character in the viewer. Saving is what makes a clip part of the asset: only saved clips are baked into the download, and the model shows how many it has. Unsaved candidates stay in the list for comparison, and a saved clip can be unsaved later without regenerating anything.
8Download one GLB with the rig and clips inside
Download the model as GLB. One file carries the mesh, its PBR textures, the skeleton and every saved clip as a named animation track. OBJ, STL, PLY and OFF are also offered, but they are static geometry only: no textures, no skeleton, no animation. The engine import guide covers what Godot, Unity, Blender and Unreal each do with the GLB.
Specs
| Rig types (app) | General (any asset), Humanoid (complete humanoid skeleton, no fingers), Humanoid with fingers |
|---|---|
| Rig types (API and MCP) | general (default), humanoid, game, humanoid_template (22 joints), humanoid_template_hands (52 joints, five fingers per hand) |
| Bone naming conventions | 7: SMPL (default), Mixamo (Unity auto-mapper), HumanIK (Maya / FBX), Unreal (UE mannequin), Godot (humanoid profile), Rigify (Blender), VRoid / VRM |
| Rig time and cost | About a minute, 1 credit, refunded if the job fails or is cancelled |
| Animation from a prompt | 4 candidate takes per run, 0.2 credits at the introductory price (list price 1), Full motion or Rotation only |
| Animation from a preset | 640+ preset motions retargeted onto a Humanoid-template rig, 0.2 credits per clip, one clip per run |
| Loop and in-place | Auto (recommended), Yes or No; Auto follows the preset's own loop flag |
| Upload formats for rigging | GLB, GLTF, OBJ, PLY, STL, OFF, FBX, 3DS, DAE, CTM, X3D |
| Re-rigging | Non-destructive to geometry, but replaces any prior skeleton, so animations made against the old rig no longer apply |
| Export | GLB with textures, skeleton and every saved clip merged into one file; OBJ, STL, PLY and OFF are static geometry only |
Tips
- Choose the bone naming before you rig, not after. It costs nothing at rig time, and it is the difference between your engine mapping the character on its own and you mapping it bone by bone.
- The preset library needs a Humanoid rig type. A General rig still animates from a prompt, so that is the route for a creature, a vehicle or anything that is not two arms and two legs.
- Rigging again replaces the skeleton, and clips saved against the old one no longer apply. Get the rig type and naming right first; spend credits on animation second.
- Only saved clips are written into the GLB. A download missing a motion almost always means a clip left sitting in the candidate list.
- Prompted animation is experimental and likes short motions described plainly. If three runs in a row miss, find the nearest preset and retarget that instead.
FAQ
Can I rig a model that is not humanoid?
Yes. The General rig type is the default and rigs any type of asset, with no T-pose requirement. The limit is on animation, not rigging: the preset library retargets onto the Humanoid skeletons only, so a General rig animates from a text prompt rather than from presets.
Can I rig a model I made somewhere else?
Yes. Upload it as GLB, GLTF, OBJ, PLY, STL, OFF, FBX, 3DS, DAE, CTM or X3D and rig it like a model generated in Ludo. Rigging leaves the geometry alone but replaces any skeleton the file already carried, so a file that arrives rigged comes back with the new skeleton and the new bone names.
How long does auto-rigging take, and what does it cost?
About a minute, for 1 credit, held when the job starts and refunded if it fails or you cancel. Each animation after that is 0.2 credits at the current introductory price, whether it comes from a preset or a prompt, and a prompt run returns four takes for that one charge.
Which bone naming should I pick for my engine?
Mixamo for Unity, since it is the naming Unity's humanoid auto-mapper reads. Godot for Godot's SkeletonProfileHumanoid. Unreal for the UE mannequin. Rigify for Blender, HumanIK for Maya, MotionBuilder and FBX pipelines, and VRoid / VRM for VRM avatars. SMPL is the default if none of those apply. The skeleton itself is identical in every case, only the joint names change.
Does the download include the skeleton and the animations?
In GLB, yes: the mesh, the PBR textures, the skeleton and every clip you saved are merged into one file, each clip as a named animation track. OBJ, STL, PLY and OFF export the static mesh only, with no textures, skeleton or animation.
Can I export the rigged character as FBX?
Not today. The rigged and animated export is GLB, and the other formats are static geometry. If your pipeline needs FBX, import the GLB into Blender, whose bundled glTF 2.0 add-on reads the skinning and the animations, and export FBX from there. The engine import guide walks through that route.
Can I pose the character by hand?
Yes. Once a model is rigged the viewer shows the skeleton, and dragging a joint poses the character. It is the quickest check that the rig found the joints you expected, and worth doing before you spend credits on animation.
Related
More guides for 3D Asset Generator
- How to turn a 2D character image into a 3D model with AIStart from one character image, check the cutout, set triangles and textures, and get a textured GLB ready to rig.
- How to import an AI-generated rigged GLB into Godot, Unity, Blender and UnrealWhat the GLB carries, how Godot, Unity, Blender and Unreal each read it, and where a conversion step is still needed.